What's your oldest tool?

[BobSch]

My great-great grandaddys double bladed axe.

My daddy gave it to me in 1965 and said it was his great grandaddys axe, and the handle had been replaced three times that he knew of, and the blade replaced once or twice.

Tom J.

Sounds like an old lumberjack I knew.

[PhilofKayDu]

Old Tool

Mine has to be a 6" with a wooden T handle bung hole reaming tool for wooden barrels. I do not know how old it is. (Reanacters would understand what this was for). Phil

[BobSch]

Mine has to be a 6" with a wooden T handle bung hole reaming tool for wooden barrels. I do not know how old it is. (Reanacters would understand what this was for). Phil

That must be barrels of fun.

[Tom Slick]

I have a Stanley plane from the 1920's. Most of my stuff is less than 20 years old

[Pappy]

My Dad's claw hammer is in the shop, and is probably about the same age as me. The oldest tool(s) in shop use are a set of Stanley #98 / #99. These planes were made from 1896 to 1942. Mine are the earlier type that were made prior to 1930 when a depth stop was added. I have older planes, but they are not in shop use.

[DustyandLefty]

Mid-1800s?

Great question!
Very hard to say; I've got an early Stanley 45 from about 1900 which I use occasionally and some of my grandfather's measuring tools from about 1925, but I've got quite a few undated wooden planes in different styles. I found a hand-forged light duty hammer many years ago; the claws are just slightly different sizes. I had fun last year when our church had a "Dad's toys" display for Father's Day. I brought in a collection of different tools arranged by both function (hammering, drilling, planing, etc.) and chronologically from earliest to the present.

My wife has some weaving and spinning equipment from before the Civil War in her studio.

Dusty and Lefty

[Sawatzky]

Probably my old all metal Craftsman drill from the 70's. It is a beast of a drill and works great.

[pelligrini]

Good stuff. I've got a few other tools that came from my dad's folks but I can't readily identify their age, and I don't use them very often. I don't think they are as old as that No. 6 plane though. I love looking at an ornate old cast iron level in the shop, but it's not that easy to use. Even my old cast iron Stanley 12" level doesn't get moved off the shelf much. The bit brace I use on occaision is from from my dad's folks and is probably from the early 20's.

My Yankee 131A driver is probably from a little after 1908 (that's the last patent date on it).

The oldest 'tool' I have with a known date is a powder horn (actual horn) dated 1777.

[Lance]

Mine has to be a 6" with a wooden T handle bung hole reaming tool for wooden barrels. I do not know how old it is. (Reanacters would understand what this was for). Phil

It's for reaming your bung hole, of course. DUH!

[DrChas]

My oldest power tool is my craftsman jig saw. My parents bought it for me when I was 14 in exchange for building them a dog house. They also bought me a drill, but that wandered off some time in the last 40 years. The funny thing is that that old craftsman jigsaw is built like a tank, and its a darned sight better than anything I would replace it with these days.

I have a couple of old planes that must be 100 years old, but I don't know for sure. All I know is that they cut wood in a predictable manner.

[dkerfoot]

I have a few ancient screwdrivers, files, etc that are from the 40's or earlier.

My Shopsmith is from the 80's, but I bought a 6" beltsander for it that is a "Greenie" which puts the manufacture date between 1953-1960. I use it a lot and it still works like new.

[sscherin]

That would be my 1900-1914 (not exactly sure) W F & J Barnes drill press..
It works and runs smooth.. My grandfather converted it to electric power..



Next in line is my grandfathers WWII era No 5 plane

[poolhound]

My oldest are probably these chisels. They were my grandfathers and my father gave them to me a couple of years ago. This is an old photo and I have cleaned, restored and sharpened them since this was taken.

The planes I started to get back into service but didnt finish the job so this thread has made me think about digging them out and completing the task. I could use a good rabbet plane although I know the iron on this one was very rusted.

[Kavoom]

My dad gave me a black hand made tool about 7 inches long with a cutter (pliers like) on the end and one handle has kind of a mini pry bar with a notch in it to remove nails. He said he used to go watch the local blacksmith/farrier work (1930's) when he was a kid and the guy (who made it) gave it to him. Neat to think about it being a hand made tool with a provenance (I watch Antiques Roadshow) to my dad to me from a person who made it...

[BrazosJake]

Type 9 #7 jointer.

Any one of several pre-1929 Disston handsaws, mostly #8s and one #12.